The U.S. presidential election of 1944 was the first mid-war election for America since 1864, when Lincoln ran for reelection during the Civil War. The Great Emancipator’s slogan had been, “Don’t change horses in midstream.” Though FDR did not use the phrase himself, many of his supporters did.
Nazi Germany was clearly on the ropes. Paris had long been liberated, and Anglo-American forces were battling into the homeland of the Reich itself.The Japanese had suffered a number of stunning defeats, but the Pacific war still loomed.From all indications, Roosevelt was about to win an unprecedented fourth term, though by a narrower margin than ever before
It was late October. A major naval battle lay ahead in the Pacific, but only the Japanese knew it was coming. The battle would be of such scope and importance that it might not only affect the course of the war, but perhaps even swing the U.S. election the other way. And the key figure would not be an American politician, but a Japanese admiral.
The Battle That Could Have Been
Takeo Kurita was the naval officer who, at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. His actions had the potential for major military and political ramifications.
Takeo Kurita was born in Japan in 1889. He was a career naval officer who took part in a number of important operations in the Pacific. Kurita had led an amphibious assault against the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies in early 1942. Several months later, he took part in the Battle of Midway (where he was assigned to support the landing of Japanese troops on the island), which was called off when Japanese naval forces were badly mauled. Kurita also saw action at Guadalcanal, where his force successfully shot up Henderson Field.
Kurita’s role in World War II will forever be known in naval history as the battle he won and then threw away. It will be regarded as one of the great “what if?” debates of history.
Entering the San Bernardino Strait
In October 1944, the Japanese were told, apparently by the Soviet ambassador to Japan, that Douglas MacArthur (Number 8) was about to invade the Philippines.
The initial U.S. landings began on the island of Leyte on October 21, 1944. The Japanese strategy was to divide up their fleet into four separate forces, each with a specific route and mission.
Two forces, one under Vice-Admiral Ahoji Nishimura and a second under Vice-Admiral Kiyohide Shima, would take separate routes but meet to attack Leyte from the south.
The third force was led by Vice-Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa. He was the decoy, designed to offer a juicy target to the aggressive William F. Halsey (Number 26). The idea was to draw Halsey away from the San Bernardino Strait, which his fleet was guarding. Halsey was protecting the American amphibious forces landing troops on Leyte.
Kurita’s fourth force was then to enter the strait and demolish the American landing forces at Leyte.
The deception worked. Halsey went for it hook, line, and sinker. He took off after Ozawa and the strait was wide open to Kurita. The original Japanese plan called for him to link up with Shima and Nishimura to wipe out the landing forces. But there was a lot of action along the way, and Shima and Nishimura never made it to their destination.
As part of the attack plan, the Japanese sent planes from land bases in the Phil-ippines and carrier-based planes from Ozawa’s carriers. Kamikazes (suicide planes) struck American ships; American carrier planes retaliated with their own firepower.
A Battle and a Final Retreat
The Pacific area around the Philippines was filled with battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and other ships of all sizes. The series of battles known collectively as the Battle of Leyte Gulf would be called the greatest sea battle in history, one that extended over an area of half-a-million square miles.
Before reaching the San Bernardino Strait, Kurita’s force had run into trouble. First, his flagship was hit by U.S. submarines and sunk; he had to board another. Fur-ther along the way, his force was attacked by carrier planes, with additional losses. Though his fleet was damaged, it was still extremely powerful.
When he arrived at the San Bernardino Strait, it was wide open, because Halsey had gone after Ozawa. As Kurita sailed in, unidentified ships were spotted ahead. Kurita was not sure whether Ozawa had been successful in luring away Halsey. Could those unidentified ships be Halsey’s fleet?
What Kurita did not know was that the American ships that lay ahead was a tiny group of escort carriers, destroyers, and destroyer escorts under C.A.F. Sprague (Number 36). The American ships had, at maximum, 5-inch guns compared to the Japanese 14-, 15-, and 16-inchers.
Sprague immediately set off a smoke screen and closed in. Luckily, a squall came up. Kurita had no idea what he was facing.
Hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned, the Americans fought so savagely that Kurita believed he was facing a major American force. After more than two hours of battle, he turned around and sailed home.
What if?
The Battle of Leyte Gulf officially ended on October 26, 1944. Back in America, Election Day was only a week away. Now comes the “what if?”
What if Kurita had sailed on, destroyed the American landing craft, and killed many U.S. troops on the Leyte beaches? Such a horrendous defeat might well have swung the balance in favor of New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, the Republican candidate running against FDR.
A defeat in Leyte, plus a loss at the Battle of the Bulge two months later, might have been enough for a new administration to take a fresh look at “unconditional surrender.” Might it have tried to offer terms? Would a United Nations have been formed based on the Dumbarton Oaks plan set up by Cordell Hull (Number 94)? It is all speculation; we shall never know.
Admiral Kurita, the man whose missed opportunity might have changed the shape of the post-war world, died in 1977.
0 comments:
Post a Comment